We present to your attention Bates gymnastics for vision and specially designed eye exercises according to Dr. Bates’ method to improve and restore vision.

The eyes are the main source of receiving information about the world and surrounding objects. People who have completely or partially lost their vision suffer greatly, experiencing not only physical pain, but also emotional shock. That is why patients who have begun to see poorly or have completely lost this ability grasp at all possible ways to solve their problems.

Official medicine has developed a lot of methods, both surgical and conservative, for the treatment of almost all types of eye diseases. But along with proven methods, people tend to turn their attention to unconventional methods of treatment.

Theoretical justification of the method

William Horatio Bates is a physician who qualified as an ophthalmologist. Born and worked in the United States of America. He created and developed a whole doctrine of improving vision using non-drug methods.

By the way, Bates was not supported by the international community of ophthalmologists, and other professors in this field openly called his method of treating eye diseases absurd and a pseudoscientific theory.

Bates outlined several theories on which his method is based:

1. In his opinion, the human eye carries out the process of adaptation or accommodation not by changing the shape and curvature of the lens, but by changing the shape of the eye. This change in the eyeball occurs as a result of the action of the muscles that surround the eye.
2. All visual impairments (myopia, farsightedness, strabismus and others) occur due to mental stress. Moreover, each pathology of the visual analyzer has its own unique type of stress.

The cause of visual acuity impairment is mental stress from the very effort to see this or that object, regardless of whether this object is far away or not.

For example, if a patient suffers from myopia or myopia, then according to Bates’ theory, it is the emotional stress when trying to look at objects at a distance that causes this disease. In other words, a healthy eye never peers or looks closely at objects or objects.

If, due to circumstances beyond the control of the eye, the object is not visible, poor lighting, flickering or other reasons, then this same eye simply moves on to examining another object.

Every time a person with initially normal vision tries to see something and cannot, his vision immediately decreases. Accordingly, if a person wants to look at distant objects, he begins to develop myopia.

But Dr. Bates did not limit himself to one theory. In 1917, there in America, he and a famous entrepreneur organized paid courses to improve vision.

Bates assured his patients that regular classes in his courses would help them completely recover from eye diseases. In our time, the teachings of the foreign ophthalmologist were continued by Soviet scientists.

The general provisions read:

• You need to perform a set of exercises an hour after eating;
• exercise time is about ten minutes;
• if a person wears glasses, it is better to avoid them while performing gymnastics;
• if you complete all the necessary tasks for three to four months, your vision will improve two to three times;
• exercises are performed sitting or standing;
• during classes, it is imperative to face north;
• while performing, fix your consciousness on the bridge of your nose;
• when performing the exercises correctly, do not blink;
• do not break the complex into parts and do not interrupt.

Execution method

1. If you are a man, then use the index finger of your right hand, but if a woman performs gymnastics, the index finger should be of your left hand. Place the corresponding finger on your nose, more precisely on its tip. Finger parallel to the floor. Squint your gaze, completely focusing on the tip of your nose with your finger. The main condition is to watch without blinking. When you are fixed in this position, take a deep breath and exhale, using your abdominal muscles. Repeat 3 times.
2. The second exercise is the same as the first, with the only difference being that the right index finger for men and the left index finger for women are placed on the area between the eyebrows. In the same way, you need to concentrate, take a deep breath and exhale. Repeat three times.
3. Third exercise. The same index finger placed at the tip of the nose. But in this exercise you need to squint your gaze at the tip of your finger. As you inhale, remove your finger from your nose, without taking your gaze off, as far as possible. If you have good vision and you see at arm's length, then this will be the maximum distance for you; in cases of poor vision, move your finger away until you can clearly distinguish the object. Then, as you exhale, return your finger to the tip of your nose. Repeat at least three times.
4. The fourth exercise of the complex completely copies the third, based on a distant, concentrated examination of the finger, but this time place the finger on the area between the eyebrows.
5. Sit or stand comfortably. To perform the fifth exercise, you will need to tilt your head back as much as possible, but carefully. In this position, look at the tip of your nose. Concentration should be maximum. Take a full deep breath, then exhale the same full breath.
6. The position is the same with the head thrown back as much as possible. But you need to look, as you probably guessed, at the area between the eyebrows. Do it at least three times. These exercises must be performed carefully, because deep breaths can cause dizziness.
7. If you were standing before, sit down. The seventh exercise is done while sitting on a chair with a straight back. Extend one arm straight out in front of you. Squeeze your little finger and ring finger, covering these fingers with your thumb. It should be a victory gesture, Victoria. Place the other palm of your hand with its edge in front of your eyes at a distance of no more than 12 centimeters. You need to look exactly at your fingertips. Without looking away, look at your fingertips, while your hand moves to the right. This exercise with hand movement is done while inhaling. As you exhale, return your arm to its original position. Then make these movements, accompanied by inhalation to the left. Repeat all movements with the other hand.
8. Eighth exercise. Take a full breath, close your eyes. When you exhale, you need to massage the eyeballs with the pads of your thumbs. After exhaling as much as possible, hold your breath, while opening your eyes, covering them with your palms. Remember that while holding your breath, your eyes should be open and relaxed. Executes once.
9. While standing, draw an imaginary large letter F on the opposite wall or just in space if you have a good imagination. Shift your gaze sharply to the corners of this huge letter. Be sure not to blink or move your head. Only the muscles that move the eyeball work. You need to make sharp movements from corner to corner with fixation in the corners. Hold your breath at these extreme points. The order in which you look at the extreme points is not important. This exercise should be repeated several times, but at least three.
10. In the tenth exercise you will need to draw, but not with your hands, but, as you may have guessed, with your eyes. Standing in front of a wall or just in space, draw mentally, but at the same time using your eye muscles and crosses as much as possible. First, draw a vertical line from top to bottom, raising your eyes up and down as much as possible, then draw a horizontal line using the same principle. As in the previous exercise, fix your gaze on the extreme points and hold your breath. Thus, draw one cross, then two, three, and so on in increasing order. Do this at least ten times.
11. Another exercise for drawing with your eyes on the wall. Now you have to draw a square divided into four parts. Imagine that there are circles in each part of the square. Mentally, accompanied by your gaze, first spin one circle in a square, then two circles at the same time, then three circles at the same time, and, finally, all four circles should spin in your imagination. When all four circles are spinning, change their direction of movement.
12. Using only your eyes, make figure eights in the air. First you draw a horizontal figure eight, then a vertical one, and at the end of the exercise two diagonal ones. Imagine that you are standing very close to an imaginary wall. Repeat the exercise in each direction several times.
13. Exercise number thirteen is not related to drawing. First, with your eyes closed, you rotate your eyeballs in one direction with maximum amplitude. Then perform the same movement in the other direction. The exercise should be repeated ten to twelve times.
14. For this exercise you will need bright dawn sun or an artificial lamp with a matte shade. Cover your eyes with your hands, palm surface. Then concentrate and try to draw light into the area between your eyebrows. Of course, it’s hard to imagine, but it’s necessary. Look at the light bulb for up to 60 seconds, at the real sun for more than one minute, only if it is sunset or dawn.
15. For this exercise, stock up on a basin with clean and cold water. Lower your head, namely the front part of it, into the water, while opening your eyes as wide as possible. Already in the water, try blinking. Perform 3-5 times. Of course, the exercise is not suitable for those who intend to perform the complex at work or in other places where there is no basin with water.
16. A modification of this exercise is still the same basin with water, but you also need to put water in your mouth and puff out your cheeks. Splash cold water on your face over your open eyes.

The above exercises only concerned the eyes. But Dr. Bates, who wrote an entire scientific treatise based on his method, also touched upon the problem of oxygen starvation. In his opinion, the vast majority of people experience oxygen starvation for one reason or another.

When vision is not perfect and the eyes begin to see poorly, a person experiences not only mental stress, but at the same time the muscular frame of the chest, intercostal, and pectoral muscles become tense.

Accordingly, when tension occurs in the eye area, the muscles involved in the act of breathing tense, and breathing does not occur entirely correctly and the saturation of the blood with oxygen does not occur. And the necessary oxygen does not reach the eyes.

1. To successfully perform breathing exercises, you should go outside or at least open a window. Since there is theoretically more oxygen outside, doing these exercises will give you the right amount of it.
2. Inhale deeply several times so that the blood is enriched with valuable oxygen, and it goes straight to the eyes.
3. Take a deep breathing movement, then bend in half at the waist, while bending your knees so that your head and eyes are below the level of your heart.
4. You need to tense up and stand in this position for five minutes.
5. You will most likely feel dizzy, so be careful if you have heart or lung disease, do these exercises very carefully.

Conclusion

Every doctor dreams that his contribution to science will help people, cure them of terrible diseases or prevent death.

Dr. Bates suggested that the cause of poor vision is not changes in the transparency and curvature of the lens, nor pathology of the cornea and retina, but only tension arising in the muscles and psyche of patients.

His teaching did not find support in the medical community and eminent luminaries neither during the time of Dr. Bates's practice nor at the present time do not confirm his theory.

Everyone decides for himself whether to resort to methods of non-traditional medicine. At the very least, there will be no harm to the eyes from daily exercises.

In the last article I told you about. A separate subsection of the note was devoted to a description of my method of preparing to perform exercises using the Bates method. The essence of the preparation was to maximize the speed of vision restoration and eliminate all factors inhibiting progress.

In this article, I will tell you about how I use the Bates method of restoring vision with eye exercises, and I will share my impressions of doing 4 weeks of Bates eye gymnastics.

What kind of eye gymnastics do I do according to Bates?

After studying the Bates eye gymnastics exercises and conducting several classes, I came to the conclusion that not all exercises are suitable for me. The fact is that some turns with the eyes turned out to be difficult for me to perform. For example, during the “figure eight” exercise, I noticed that I was too lazy on the curves of the figure and my eyes were jumping around, not making the bends well.

Since poorly performed exercises probably do not give the expected effect for improving vision, I abandoned them and selected a suitable set of movements for myself, including:

1. Move the eyes up and down at medium speed and hold the eyes in the upper and lower positions for about 1 second. I do this exercise in one approach of 20 raising and lowering the eyes.
2. Eye movements from right to left at medium speed and holding the eyes in the right and left positions for about 1 second. The exercise is also performed in one approach of 20 movements in each direction.
3. Movement of the eyes diagonally (from the lower left corner to the upper right corner with a delay in each extreme position for 1 second). The exercise is performed in one approach, at an average pace, 20 movements in each direction.
4. Movement of the eyes diagonally (from the lower right corner to the upper left corner with a delay in each extreme position for 1 second). The exercise is performed in one approach, at an average pace, 20 movements in each direction.
5. My favorite exercise is the butterfly. The following movements are made: from the lower left corner of the eye move to the upper right corner, then to the lower right corner, then to the upper left corner and to the lower left corner. In fact, you are drawing an angular infinity sign. You need to perform the exercise at an average pace, 20 repetitions.
6. Exercise "Sniper 1". A finger is placed in front of the eyes as close as possible, but to avoid double vision. The gaze slowly moves to the finger and into the distance. I make 20 pairs of such translations.
7. Exercise "Sniper 2". The finger approaches the maximum distance to the eyes so that there is no double vision, and moves away until there is good clarity. Over time, you will begin to bring your finger closer to your eyes and move it further away from your eyes. I do 20 zooms in and out.
8. Palming.

Palming is considered one of the most useful exercises for the eyes. To perform palming, you need to warm up your palms well, rubbing them together, and close your eyes with your palms so that no light reaches your eyes. When performing the exercise, the eyes should be closed, but not squinted, but relaxed.

The main goal of palming is to ensure maximum relaxation of the eyes and achieve “perfect darkness.” During the exercise you need to think about something good.

The time to complete the exercise depends on the degree of eye fatigue. For example, when I start palming, I see not black, but a lot of glare and flashes of color (associated with sitting at the computer for a long time). After 7 – 10 minutes, the color disturbances weaken, and that’s when real rest for the eyes begins, which lasts for me 5 minutes. Thus, I spend about 15 minutes on one palming session. If there are no glares or flashes, you can reduce the duration of the lesson to 10 minutes, but it is not recommended to do less.

Notice how visual acuity improves after palming! It is clear that the effect will be temporary, but this is clear evidence that the exercise works.

I forgot to mention a very important point: the Bates method of restoring vision with exercises is not suitable for everyone. Contraindications to Bates eye gymnastics are:

1. surgery performed within the last 6 months to restore vision;
2. retinal detachment. It is allowed to do gymnastics only after 6 months from the moment of welding of the retina.

Regarding the number of classes per day and the number of repetitions of exercises. In this case, everything is individual. If you feel that your eyes are very tired, sore, or red, be sure to exercise less. Zhdanov and Norbekov recommend doing no more than 8 repetitions of each exercise; I came up with the figure 20 for myself, since I do not feel any negative effects on the eyes.

For children, I think it’s better to generally start with 4 repetitions of each exercise. In this case, you need to carefully monitor the child’s well-being.

Is the Bates method effective for restoring vision with exercises?

When I ordered contact lenses and asked the doctor whether the Bates method of restoring vision with exercises helps, I received the following answer: “Exercises are really effective, but they need to be done for months, and sometimes even years, to get the effect.” The doctor recalled one case when a guy with myopia -2.00 came for examination. He was going to enter the Academy of Internal Affairs, but with such vision there was no way he could get there.

Having received advice to do Bates eye exercises every day, the young man replied that he would definitely try this method. Exactly one year later, the patient returned to the optician for an eye examination. Each eye showed 1.00.

After the doctor asked how he managed to gain 3 units in a year, the young man said that for a year he performed the recommended exercises many times a day and thus improved his vision.

I won’t say that after a month of exercise I completely improved my vision or improved it by at least 1 diopter, but there are definitely positive effects. Firstly, after about 2.5 weeks I began to see the colors of objects much brighter (I couldn’t even imagine that red was so red, and light green so light green). Secondly, thanks to the exercises, I very easily adapted to the old “weak” glasses, which means that my eyes have already become more trained. Thirdly, despite the fact that I did not reduce the load on the computer, my eyes no longer got so tired.

To some, the results I received in a month may seem too insignificant, but for me this is already a good result. I plan to carry out the next diopter measurement in at least 2 months, since after this period I expect the first noticeable changes.

I guess I'll end my review here. In the next article I’ll tell you about it and offer another one that is suitable for both adults and children.

2 comments

• Alexander:

  My son and I have been doing these exercises for 5 days now. I would like to give some advice on starting eye exercises with neck exercises. forward back right left. head turns. circular movements of the shoulders. Without turning your body, turn your head back trying to see the back wall. These simple exercises help relieve congestion in the collar area. increase blood flow. and in general, in the occipital part there are many different vascular centers, including those associated with the eyes. We train ourselves to catch ourselves thinking so as not to slouch. back straight. this also greatly affects our vision. In general, we will work with our son constantly and not only with eye gymnastics, but with the whole body as a whole. I wish everyone good luck. Everything will definitely work out. The result will definitely be there.

Opinions about the effectiveness of exercise are controversial. In the territory of the former USSR, an active supporter of the Bates technique is physicist Vladimir Zhdanov. He combined the principles of the Bates system and the work of the Soviet physiologist Gennady Shichko. Therefore, in the literature you can find a double name for the method for restoring vision - Shichko-Bates.

Bates theory

English ophthalmologist William Bates believed that vision impairment was the result of psychological imbalance and muscle tension. The eye experiences strain when closely examining objects.

Because of this, an additional center of activity is formed in the brain and a psychological problem arises. Because over time it does not disappear, but worsens, and a spasm of the oculomotor muscles develops.

Therefore, the Bates method for restoring vision is based on influencing the muscles that provide movement of the eyeballs. Unlike traditional medicine, vision restoration using the Bates method does not involve influencing the muscle that changes the curvature of the lens. This does not take into account age-related changes in the tissues of the organ of vision, various inflammatory and degenerative processes.

The Bates method involves avoiding the use of glasses and. As a last resort, it is recommended to use a weak correction. The author believed that external means for vision correction only worsen the process of accommodation and harm the eye, because the muscles do not contract and are not restored properly.

The Shichko method for restoring visual acuity is a complex of psychological attitudes. The Soviet physiologist believed that thoughts must be recorded on paper to improve vision. Before going to bed, the patient should write certain phrases, then perform Bates exercises and go to bed. During sleep, the necessary attitudes are formed, and vision improves.

The complex methodology of Vladimir Zhdanov combines the physiological component of eye training according to Bates and the psychological component in the form of Shichko training.

Indications and contraindications

Eye gymnastics by William Bates is indicated for the following conditions:

• age-related or congenital;
• myopia;
• amblyopia;

Improvement in vision without glasses should be expected after several months of regular exercise.

• surgical intervention on the eyes within six months;
• (both acute and chronic).

Before starting vision restoration using the Shichko-Bates method, you should consult with an ophthalmologist. Retinal diseases in the early stages occur without pronounced clinical symptoms, and exercise can provoke a worsening of the condition.

Bates gymnastics to restore visual acuity includes several basic exercises that are suitable for each patient, as well as an individual complex depending on the existing disorders. Bates exercises are divided into passive and dynamic.

Passive exercises

Exercise of a passive nature consists of palming, mental imagery and recollection. It is aimed at relaxing the eyeball as a whole. The muscular system relaxes indirectly.

Palming

It is necessary to rub your palms against each other, lower your relaxed eyelids, but do not close your eyes too much. The palms are placed over the closed eyes so that the fingers are crossed at the bottom of the forehead in the form of a house.

The Bates method exercise should be performed in a calm environment, with even and calm breathing. Its goal is maximum relaxation, in which a person will see in his mind’s eye an absolutely black field without spots.

It is necessary to achieve complete relaxation; this will take 4–5 minutes. Palming is a simple exercise that can be performed as soon as eye fatigue becomes noticeable. It is especially useful to perform it before bed.

Memories

The situation is the same as in the previous exercise. The eyes are closed, but without the overlap of the palms. A person must concentrate and imagine some calm sound (the sound of water, birdsong) or a pleasant smell (butter dough, cinnamon), or taste (coffee, chocolate).

Any option will do, but the memory should be pleasant, not stressful or annoying. After a few minutes, a person will see a completely black field as a result of complete relaxation of the eyeballs, which is what was required to be achieved.

Mental image

Aimed at increasing the ability of the brain and eyeballs to completely relax. 2 options for performing the exercise have been developed.

The first involves palming, during which you need to imagine any black objects in your field of vision and fixate them for 1–2 seconds.

The second option is possible using a table to test visual acuity with letters. At a distance of 2.5-5 meters from the poster, you must select any letter in the line. Both eyes are closed, the traditional version of palming is done, and the letter appears completely black. Once the process is complete, the letters next to the selected one will be visible more clearly.

Dynamic exercises

Improving vision without glasses using the Bates method with passive exercises alone is impossible. An active complex of movements includes central fixation and movement, large and small turns, blinking and flashing, solarization.

Central fixation

Involves examining an object or letter in such a way that the center or corner is clearly visible, but the surrounding space is a little blurry. Gradually you need to reduce the size of the objects in question.

Moving

Aimed at restoring the functioning of the eye muscles using smooth, calm movements. To begin with, 3 repetitions are enough, as the results appear, their number increases. It is easy to imagine and perform all the movements using drawings. The number of movements of each type is 10–12 per approach.

Exercises include the following movements:

• moving the gaze down and up;
• eye movements to the sides (left and right);
• diagonal - from the upper right corner to the lower left and vice versa;
• drawing a virtual square with your gaze: from the left corner to the right - down, from the right corner to the left - up;
• drawing a diagonal inside the square (from the bottom left corner up - from the top corner diagonally down, also on the right);
• circular eye movements in a clockwise direction;
• drawing “teeth” - the eyes move up and down.

After completing each movement of the eyeballs, you need to blink vigorously.

Turns big and small

A large turn is a movement of not only the eyes, but also the head, as well as the upper limbs. Accordingly, small turns are movements only with the eyes.

Small turns can be performed this way. Place a finger or pen in front of the nose. They move their eyes to the right and left so that the gaze glides over the object, but is not fixed on it.

A similar technique is used when performing a large turn - the gaze glides, but is not fixed. During this exercise, a person stands, his head and outstretched arms move simultaneously. These eye exercises are performed at least 70-75 times.

Flashes and blinks

Blinking is a protective reflex that allows the eye to relax. Improving vision using the Bates method involves conscious blinking, which prevents fatigue of the visual analyzer when looking at objects.

The exercise can be performed in several ways:

• stand in front of the mirror and examine your right and left eyes alternately, blinking after each time;
• sit next to the vision test table, look for 4–5 minutes at the bottom 4 lines, where the letters are clearly visible, and then blink;
• slowly throw a small object (ball, toy) from hand to hand, with each throw the eyes blink.

The task with flashes is somewhat more difficult. His task is to be able to see an object clearly without prolonged and close examination. To perform it, you need to look at some object casually for no more than a second. Then close your eyes, palming, and imagine this object as clearly as possible. Flashing should be done indoors and outdoors, in sunlight and in low light conditions. The eye must learn to adapt to any conditions.

Solarization

The most difficult exercise that causes the most comments from doctors. It involves direct exposure to sunlight.

Solarization involves several actions:

• Stand in the bright sun and close your eyes, breathe evenly until your eyes adapt to the bright light, then carefully lift the eyelid of one eye with clean hands, looking down (not at the sun), repeat with the second eye.
• Position yourself on the corner of the house so that half of your body is in the shade and the other in the sun, slowly turn your head from side to side so that both eyes fall into the shadow and bright light.
• Continuing to turn your head, open one eye and glance at objects, then make several turns so that the open eye looks directly at the sun.

After solarization, prolonged palming is required. If the slightest discomfort appears, stop the exercise.

Result

All proposed exercises are aimed at strengthening the muscular system, which is effective for patients with certain vision problems. Such people really begin to see better with daily long-term training. At the same time, improving vision according to Bates is a technique that is not recognized by official medicine and causes a lot of controversy among doctors.

As Bates argued, improving vision without glasses is available to everyone. But his gymnastics, like Shichko’s method, do not take into account the dystrophic and degenerative processes occurring in the eyes, for example, with glaucoma and retinopathy. For patients with these diseases, exercise can only cause harm. Therefore, before starting gymnastics, a consultation with an ophthalmologist is required.

Useful video about the Bates method

Rapid progress has radically changed everything - the way of life in general, and even the shape of the eyeball. Being round in its natural position, due to books, televisions, computers and fashionable gadgets, it is forced to constantly strain and stretch forward. At least that’s what the American ophthalmologist William Bates thought, who went against traditional medicine, developed his own method of restoring vision and forbade his visually impaired patients to wear glasses. Whether they actually began to see better or simply indulged their doctor is a question that continues to be debated to this day. Some consider Bates an adventurer, others a savior, but who is he really? Are Bates eye gymnastics really effective?

Position of official medicine

No matter what miracles of vision restoration the followers of the American ophthalmologist talk about, the fact remains: official science has not yet recognized his method. The fact is that Bates refutes the opinion of another scientist - the German Hermann Helmholtz, and he, in turn, has already firmly established himself on the pages of medical textbooks. He believed (and modern ophthalmologists still insist on this) that the human eye is a ball, in the front of which there is a crystalline lens and a biconvex lens, surrounded by the ciliary muscle.

When this same muscle is relaxed, the lens is in its natural position and has a flat shape. In this case, the eye clearly sees objects located in the distance, but in order to see what is right under the nose, you need to change the parameters of the optical system. To do this, the ciliary muscle contracts and compresses the lens. It becomes convex, its focal length decreases, and you can easily read the newspaper.

It turns out that the acuity of near and far vision depends on the contractions of the ciliary muscle, which does not always work as it should. Helmholtz noticed that there is a category of people in whom this very muscle is not able to relax at all. It is constantly tense, which means the lens, having once assumed a convex shape, cannot return to its original flat position. Such patients - he called them nearsighted - are able to see the smallest buttons and stitches on the suit of the interlocutor, but the distant landscape seems to them a blurred spot.

There are others who are farsighted. These are mainly old people whose ciliary muscle tone weakens with age. Perhaps this is why they love to look out the window so much - scenes happening in the distance are clearly visible to them, but, alas, they cannot see what is floating in their own bowl of soup.

Having determined this, Helmholtz began searching for a solution to the problem and came up with nothing better than to compensate for the weakness of the ciliary muscle with a lens. For nearsighted people he prescribed a biconcave minus one, and for farsighted people - a biconvex plus one. More than 180 years have passed since then, but still everyone who turns to an ophthalmologist with a complaint will receive the only recommendation - plus or minus glasses.

Bates method

At the beginning of his practice, Bates also prescribed glasses to his patients, until he realized that in this way he was doing them a disservice. Being an attentive person, he began to notice that patients who constantly lose, forget or break their glasses see much better than those who constantly wear lenses and protect them like the apple of their eye. There were no significant improvements from glasses; on the contrary, after a year or two, in order to see anything at all, patients needed new, stronger lenses.

But Bates did not immediately protest. He conducted his observations for more than 30 years and only then announced: Hermann Helmholtz’s theory was fundamentally wrong. In fact, a person sees not because the curvature of the lens changes, but because the length of the entire eye changes. By and large, every time you want to look at something close or far away, approximately the same thing happens to your eye as to a camera lens, and 6 longitudinal and transverse muscles surrounding the eyeball are responsible for focusing:

1. upper longitudinal – raises the eye upward;
2. lower longitudinal – lowers down;
3. lateral longitudinal, located on the inside, brings the eye to the nose;
4. external lateral longitudinal – allows you to look to the side;
5. upper transverse – forms a semicircle and fits the eye from above;
6. lower transverse - fits in a semicircle from below.

In the natural state, the muscles should be relaxed, the eye should be round, and attention should be focused on a distant object. In this Bates and Helmholtz are united. But they differ on what happens when a person strains to look at the fine print. Helmholtz, as we have already found out, believed that the ciliary muscle, which compresses the lens, is responsible for this process. Bates was sure that it was not the lens that was compressed, but the entire eye, and this was due to the tension of the upper and lower transverse muscles. The eyeball is liquid; under the influence of muscle force, it easily changes shape and stretches forward, which is why the focus goes inside the eye and a person can see a wart on his own nose.

Causes of visual defects according to Bates

Based on this, Bates had his own opinion about myopia, farsightedness, strabismus and the four most common visual defects. He believed that it was all about certain muscle groups:

• those who once experienced a spasm of the transverse muscles become myopic, due to which they can no longer take a natural relaxed position;
• Farsighted, as Helmholtz rightly noted, it is mainly older people who become farsighted. With age, the tone of the eye muscles weakens and they are unable to squeeze the eye to shift focus;
• strabismus is the result of a spasm of one of the longitudinal muscles, which most often occurs due to fear;
• The cause of astigmatism, that is, distortion of the visible image, is in the tension of the longitudinal and transverse muscles. They contract, but with different strengths and in an irregular, chaotic order.

But the main merit of William Bates is not that he established the causes of illnesses, but that he found methods for treating them. Or rather, I spied it while watching the Indians. It turns out that from generation to generation, from father to son, they pass on centuries-old knowledge of how to preserve the “hawk's eye” into old age. The American noticed that his northern neighbors were constantly doing some kind of exercise with their eyes. After analyzing them and understanding what was going on, he developed his own technique, known today as eye exercises according to the Bates method.

The logic is simple: if the problem is in the muscles, then they can and should be trained. Those that are tense should be relaxed, those that have weakened should be restored to tone. Using this technique, you can treat myopia and farsightedness without glasses, and strabismus without surgery. Moreover, the Bates method of restoring vision is effective even where official medicine admits to being powerless. Despite the fact that astigmatism is still considered an incurable disease, the scientist was sure: regular muscle training will sooner or later allow you to see a clear picture before your eyes.

Restoring vision according to Bates: the key stage is relaxation

Bates was sure: spasms and other disorders in muscle function are a consequence, the cause is increased nervous and mental stress, and sometimes physical injuries. That is why regular eye exercises will only have an effect if they are carried out in conditions of complete calm and relaxation.

To achieve this, the ophthalmologist invented an effective method - “” (from the English “palm”, palm). Fold your palms at right angles and place them on your face so that your fingers are crossed on your forehead, and the centers of both palms cover your eyeballs. If everything is done correctly, the nose will be pinched between the little fingers, and the light will not reach the eyes. At the same time, the palms should be warm so that the eyeballs also warm up.

Take a comfortable position, place your elbows on the table or press them to your chest, try to relax not only your eyes, but your whole body. Three to five minutes spent in complete darkness is enough for the eye muscles to relax and rest. You need to do this exercise every time you have a free minute, especially if you have to spend the whole day near the monitor.

At first, even if you close your eyes, you will probably see some light circles or spots. But remember that your task is to see a perfectly flat black field. To do this, while palming, use another technique - mental representation. Use your imagination and imagine how a heavy black curtain closes before your eyes or thick black paint spills.

Gymnastics for the eyes according to Bates: 10 basic exercises

After your eyes have rested a little, you should start doing gymnastics. There is only one “but”: if palming can be done as many times a day as you like - the more often, the better, then exercises for the eyes according to Bates - no more than three.

1. As in physical education, you need to start with the simplest exercises, gradually increasing the load. So first, just move your gaze up and down a few times.
2. Now from side to side.
3. Exercise "Diagonals". Raise your eyes to the upper right corner and move your gaze to the lower left. Then mentally draw a line connecting the bottom right point and the top left point. Repeat several times, blink and move on to the next step.
4. Exercise "Rectangle". Smoothly move your gaze from the upper left to the upper right, then down, left and up again. Blink and draw another rectangle with your eyes in the opposite direction.
5. Exercise "Dial". Imagine a clock on your face, the center is on the bridge of your nose. Raise your eyes up - to 12 o'clock, then to the right - to 3, down - to 6, to the left - to 9 and return to the starting position. Blink and start moving in a circle, stopping at each hour, but counterclockwise.
6. Exercise "Snake". Starting from the bottom left corner, move to the bottom right, drawing a sine wave in the air with your gaze. Then repeat the same thing, but from right to left.
7. Exercise "Infinity". Fix your gaze in the upper left corner and smoothly move to the lower right, then up and back down diagonally. This way you will get an aerial figure eight. Blink and draw the same thing, only in the opposite direction, starting from the right side.
8. Exercise "Spiral". Fix your gaze straight ahead and from this point begin to draw a small circle, then a little larger, etc. So, gradually increasing the radius, you should draw a wide circle with your gaze, the contours of which will run along the walls, ceiling and floor. Blink.
9. Exercise "Coils". Imagine a vertical glass tube in front of you. Now begin to visually wrap the rope around it. After making 5 turns, stop, blink and do the same, but with a horizontal pipe.
10. At the end, visually spin the mirror globe in front of you, moving your eyes along the imaginary equator.

So what should you do with glasses?

Restoring vision using the Bates method involves completely abandoning them. When glasses hang on a patient's nose, he stops moving his eyes altogether. To view an object from the side, above or below, he does not move the eyeball, as healthy people do, but turns his head. That is, most of the time the eyes are in a motionless state, which means the muscles atrophy even more. The result, as a rule, is disastrous: after a year or two, vision will decline even more, and the patient runs to the optician for new glasses.

Breaking the vicious circle is simple: 15 minutes of relaxation and exercise, 3 sets a day. This method does not require any capital investment from you and, perhaps, that is why it is not trumpeted publicly - ophthalmology companies do not have to lose their colossal profits. Be that as it may, Bates did not offer anything revolutionary, it was just about basic eye hygiene. You can trust this method or not, but it costs you nothing to check it.

How many people in the world wear glasses? And every day my vision only gets worse. Most of them think that apart from eye surgery, nothing will help them. How wrong they are!

At the turn of the century, an American ophthalmologist developed a system of exercises that will help cure myopia, farsightedness and even astigmatism. During its existence, this revolutionary system has helped more than one thousand people get rid of glasses and lenses and enjoy the world around them. This man's name was William Bates.

A set of Bates exercises helps get rid of vision problems

The choice of exercises is huge. If you perform at least 15 of them daily without skipping, then after a couple of weeks you will notice a reduction in eye fatigue and a gradual improvement in vision. The system affects each person differently. But it has been noticed that within a year, most people manage to say goodbye to glasses completely. In the future, it is only necessary to conduct periodic weekly courses once a month for prevention.

Why deprive yourself of the pleasure of seeing the world clearly and without blurry contours, if you can put your vision in order in a short time?

Who is William Bates?

Bates was born back in 1860 and devoted his life to ophthalmology. Rich practical experience, observation of patients and research allowed the doctor to develop his own system of exercises that improve vision.

Created a set of exercises to restore vision

In 1917, he opened the first courses for those wishing to see well. Three years later, he published a book of exercises. Gradually, the movement gained popularity and even received the name “Batesism.”

After the doctor's death in 1931, his business passed to his wife, who continued it. The number of followers of the method of treatment proposed by Bates grew more and more rapidly. Until now, it has not lost its relevance. The most famous propagandists of the method in Russia are V. Zhdanov and G. Shichko, who refined the Bates system and are implementing it further, giving people the opportunity to cure eye ailments.

The basis of the theory of "Batesism"

The exercises are based on the assertion that vision largely depends on the tone of the eye muscles. And mental stress affects them to a large extent. This means that in order to improve vision, they need to be relaxed. Due to this, blood circulation in the eyeball and surrounding area is normalized, which undoubtedly leads to improved vision. 6 muscles are responsible for vision. And it is aimed at ensuring that they rest and recover. For example, when looking to the left, the right muscles relax. If a person looks up, then the lower oculomotor muscles are relaxed at this moment.

Major muscles of the human eye

Later, fellow ophthalmologists refuted these doctor’s statements and scientifically proved that the quality of vision does not depend on this at all. However, numerous fans of the method have proven that it works. They were finally able to begin to navigate normally in space without glasses!

Basic provisions

Dr. Bates strongly advised his students to put their glasses away and try to live without them. According to him, they only bring harm. Yes, they allow you to see objects better and get rid of blurry outlines. But at the same time they cause incomparable harm to the eyes. These words of his are completely at odds with the words of other doctors and medicine. As soon as a person's eyesight deteriorates, he is immediately prescribed to wear glasses. Is this really about caring for his eyes or is it a deliberate move by huge medical corporations that earn huge sums of money from selling glasses.

Those who constantly wear glasses have probably noticed more than once how difficult it is to refocus when you suddenly take them off. And how tense the eyes are at these moments. You may even feel pain. This is a change in muscle tension. And only after 10-15 minutes the sensations return to normal. Those who risk going without glasses for several days notice that their vision becomes sharper. Therefore, during gymnastics, it is recommended to completely get rid of glasses and lenses, except in rare cases when you cannot do without them.

The second postulate states that reading in poor lighting impairs vision. Many parents have drilled this truth into their children’s heads since childhood. Bates recommends constantly changing the level of lighting. Sometimes bright, sometimes dim. This will make your eyes work and normalize blood circulation in them.

The doctor’s third refutation is that reading in a moving vehicle is not only possible, but necessary. Yes, the lines shake and scatter. But this makes the eyes work harder and improves vision.

Video - K a set of exercises to improve vision according to Bates

Why are there so many opponents of “Batesism”?

From the very beginning of the appearance of W. Bates's set of exercises, he had opponents. Even during the doctor’s lifetime, the Academy of Ophthalmology brought forward the accusation that the doctor was a deceiver and only lured people for the sake of profit from the courses. Several eye doctors have come forward to say that research shows the system doesn't work. Among them was the rather famous professor M. Mohan. Critics of this treatment method appear constantly.

It’s strange, considering how many people around the world managed to restore their vision thanks to this gymnastics. So why hasn’t the method become a universal panacea for blindness, and laser vision correction clinics are growing by leaps and bounds?

Firstly, medicine brings in a lot of money. And Bates is brazenly depriving many companies of profits from the sale of lenses and glasses. How many medications are sold daily to those with poor vision? The count goes into billions. So will companies really allow themselves to be deprived of so much money because a certain doctor has found an effective, simple and, most importantly, free way to improve vision? Of course not. They will lose huge sums if people stop buying various pills and dietary supplements, buying new glasses and changing their lenses every month. Doctors' claims will be fought. New facts will be discovered about why “Batesism” cannot be followed. Reputable doctors will declare that the system does not work.

Despite the desire of medical corporations to bury this treatment method, many of Dr. Bates's supporters are fighting and proving by their own example that his eye gymnastics really work. Why don't you try it too? You have nothing to lose, but you have a lot to gain.

The second reason is laziness of most people. Not everyone has the willpower to do a set of exercises every day. During the first weeks they study diligently and with pleasure. Gradually the fuse burns out, and reasons are found to start skipping classes. One day they didn’t do it, another, and now the desire to do gymnastics completely disappears. A couple of days of studying won't do anything. It takes months to get any significant results. Only after a year and a half will vision be completely restored. Not everyone has the patience to study for so long. Only 10 percent of those who wish make it through to the end and are cured of their illness. For others, it’s easier to wear glasses, spend crazy amounts of money on medications that promise recovery, and consider laser vision correction. And so on from year to year. And vision declines. The glasses are replaced with stronger ones. And the situation repeats itself.

If you have already decided to take care of your vision and restore it, then you should go all the way. Gather your willpower and practice every day. The exercises are simple. You can always allocate 15-20 minutes for them. Under any circumstances.

Basic types of exercises

Everything offered by William Bates can be divided into several categories:

Palming.

This curious word hides nothing more than a rest for the eyes. And the name comes from the fact that you cover your eyes with your hands to avoid even the slightest penetration of light. You need to sit down, close your eyes and relax. The main goal is to relax the eye muscles as much as possible. It often happens that as soon as a person closes his eyes, he begins to imagine various highlights, playing with color spots, and sparks appear. An indicator that maximum relaxation has occurred and everything is being done correctly is absolute blackness before the eyes. Nothing more.

You need to try to visualize something, try to think about pleasant things. Gradually, if images emerge, move on to imagining black objects until the entire space becomes completely black and the light spots disappear.

This exercise is key and the whole complex begins with it. It is recommended to do it 3-4 times and only then move on to the rest.

Solarization.

The sun is an assistant for this activity. You need to look at it for a few seconds every day. The essence of the exercise is to accustom your eyes to bright light.

Memory.

You need to try to recall any events or sensations from the past in your memory. When a person remembers something pleasant, he relaxes. His psyche becomes less tense, all the muscles of the body, including the eyes, are at rest.

Mental representation.

You need to close your eyes and try to imagine something. Don't try to see every little thing. The image should be general and change abruptly. You can go through some objects or, for example, letters in your mind. Bates believed that vision and visual memory are closely related. And to normalize the sharpness of vision, it is necessary to restore order with the presentation of things.

Moving.

When the pupil moves in any direction, one type of eye muscle tenses, while others relax at this time. This is what moving exercises are based on. You need to look first in one direction, then in the other and constantly alternate.

Rocking.

Watching a swinging object leads to frequent changes of muscles and movement of the eyeball. What could be the best exercise?

Blinking.

Opening and closing your eyes quickly and trying to focus in that short period of time can also have significant benefits for eye health.

In total, William Bates proposed more than 100 exercises that can be divided into the above groups. It is recommended to perform at least 15 of them daily. After some time, the exercises can be changed. But under no circumstances should you stop studying. All this will negate efforts and lead to a waste of time.

Exercises

Palming

1.You should look at some letter of a large inscription from a distance. After this, you need to sit down, relax and close your eyes with your hands. Try to remember the letter and its shade. In your thoughts, change its color a little to a blacker one. Open your eyes and look at this letter again. It will seem blacker. Repeat this exercise several times. You will achieve the fact that this letter will stand out more clearly in black and you will quickly snatch it from the image. You will begin to see her better.

2. Before closing your eyes, imagine all the colors in order from lighter to darker. Don't try to keep the shade on for long. A second is enough. The colors should flicker and change quickly. A couple of minutes for this exercise will be enough.

Then try to imagine a piece of white chalk on a black background. The sharp contrast will make it difficult to imagine anything blacker than this background.

Memory

1. Recall a rose in your memories. But you shouldn't try to detail it. Instead, try to imagine an object on it. For example, an ant or some kind of bug. Here it crawls along the stem, quickly moves onto a leaf, and returns back. Now it's already in bud. And in a similar spirit.

You will notice that during the process, although you tried to imagine one object, you did not experience much tension. A moving object was a little distracting and scattered attention, making the memory easy.

2. Hang Sivtsev’s table with letter symbols at a decent distance, 3-6 meters. Look at a letter and try to imagine it. At the same time, in your imagination, make the black part even blacker, and the light part whiter. In this case, the idea is superimposed on the memory. Open your eyes and look at this letter. After repeating it a couple of times, you will be able to see this letter more clearly. Gradually, you can try to imagine a whole line, or maybe even two.

Solarization

1.Close your eyes and turn your face to the sun. Slowly rotate your head in different directions. Continue for about 5 minutes. Open your eyes for a brief moment while continuing to rotate your head. Don't try to look at the sun, but rather at the area next to it. As you get used to it, you can look closer to the sun.

2. Sit facing the sun. Relax as much as possible. Close your eyes and look towards the sun. Smoothly turn your head from side to side. Under no circumstances should you open your eyes completely. Continue for a couple of minutes.

Moving and swinging

1. Moving your head left and right, turn your gaze in the same direction. A little later, without moving your head, try to look in different directions. You should feel tension in your eye muscles

2.Close your eyes and swing your head like a pendulum. You will be surprised, but your eyeballs will also move in time with your head.

3.Walk with your body swaying. One step and shake your head, your eyes should follow the same movement. Then the next step. And so 15-20 times.

4. Hold the book in front of your eyes and move it. Follow her movement with your eyes.

Blinks and glimpses

1.The exercise should be performed in front of a mirror. Look at your right eye. Blink. Repeat for the other one. 15 times will be enough for each eye.

2. Hang a test card with letters at a distance of 2 meters and try to examine the smallest lines. Look at them for 5-7 minutes. The main condition of the exercise is to blink after reading each letter.

3. When walking, try to blink every time your foot touches the ground. It is recommended to do the exercise for at least 10 minutes.

4. You can arrange a good activity with a ball. You need to quickly, quickly throw it from hand to hand and at the same time blink as soon as the ball flies somewhere.

5. Pick up a book printed in small print. Look only at the white spaces between the lines. Blink at each light stripe. Soon you will notice that the words become clearer and no longer blend together as much. This exercise is an excellent prevention against rapid eye fatigue.

This eye exercise is very simple and takes minimal time. If you want to achieve results faster, do it several times a day. Even if you have good eyesight, but you begin to notice that your eyes get tired quickly, then do a couple of exercises for prevention. And you will notice how your eyes relax, tension goes away and you begin to feel better.

For people with serious eye diseases, Dr. Bates' method has become a panacea for problems. It helps to completely restore vision and get rid of daily wearing glasses. You will finally get a taste for life.

But it is worth remembering that, like any exercise, this set of exercises requires time and willpower. You shouldn’t give it up after a couple of weeks, even if you feel an improvement and decide that this is enough for you. You can restore your vision to maximum frequency! The experience of thousands of people who have tried this eye exercise on themselves can confirm the effectiveness of the method. And its simplicity is amazing!